Daylight

Chapter 30

So began a different nightly routine. Instead of Elain waking up in Lucien's bed sometime during the night, she started the evenings in the armchair across from it, usually after making sure Nesta heard her going into her own room first.

She sometimes felt foolish, like she was a tween maiden sneaking out of the house after her parents had fallen asleep to go on moonlit walks with a boy from the village. But it just made things so much less complicated if Nesta was mostly ignorant to their activities. Elain wasn't stupid—and she knew Nesta wasn't either. She was sure Nesta knew that she and Lucien were spending more time together, but Elain still did what she could not to add fuel to that fire.

Each evening, after she bid everyone goodnight and went into her room, she would usually read or chat with Nuala and Cerridwen until she heard Nesta's door close... or until Feyre mentioned that Nesta had gone to Amren's for the evening. Only after that would she leave her room, pad down the hallway as quietly as possible, and slip into his room, claiming the armchair that had gradually moved further from the window and closer to the bed. No matter how often it happened, her stomach would do a tiny little backflip at the delight that flashed in his eyes when he saw her slipping into his room and closing the door behind her.

They'd talk of anything and everything, and when Elain would fall asleep during the first lull in conversation—sometimes intentionally on Lucien's part just to ensure she went to sleep—Lucien would gently scoop her up and carry her back to her own room. He would tuck her into her own bed and kiss her forehead before drifting back to his room. Some nights he wondered how he'd get any sleep at all with her scent filling his room and his lungs but somehow, he was always able to fall asleep relatively easily. She still visited him in dreams most nights, but no longer as a taunt of something he couldn't have. Now, the Elain that visited his dreams felt like a promise of things to come.

Occasionally, Lucien would join her in the garden, but made sure to give her plenty of time to herself too. They'd go back to that lovely little seafood restaurant on the Sidra or to one of the other dozen establishments that had become favorites. Once, when they'd been leaning against the railing of the bridge with their fingers entwined together, Deidre had passed by them carrying parcels full of new fabrics and sewing materials. She had smiled broadly at them and fussed when Lucien had insisted on carrying her supplies back to her shop for her. Deidre had nudged Elain and whispered her approval. Lucien liked the squat little seamstress—she was so warm and full of life, though she always made him think of Alis and wonder how she and her nephews were doing.

Once per week, they all made the trek up to the House of Wind for family dinner. So far, neither Lucien nor Cassian had drawn the short straw again to be Bryaxis's conversation partner for the week... but Lucien always made sure he was available to share a glass—or bottle—of whiskey with whomever came back from the library if they needed it.

On more than one occasion, he'd sat up until dawn with Azriel, passing the bottle back and forth, sometimes talking and other times simply drinking in silence. The Shadow master wasn't as afraid of the beast as Cassian and Lucien often suspected that Az drew the short straw intentionally somehow to save his brother the grief.

Lucien would join Rhys and the others for "guys night," which Lucien learned wasn't on any sort of set schedule and just happened whenever the group needed to blow off some steam or whenever they could make the time. The girls would go out to the theater or the opera on those nights. Once, Feyre had convinced the other girls to attend an amateur painting class.

Lucien was still looking for a place of his own but without any real conviction, mostly because he was unwilling to give up his nightly chats with Elain. At first, he hadn't been looking because he wasn't sure how he'd even pay for a place of his own, which he'd voiced one night after dinner. But Feyre had reminded him that Rhys had made Lucien part of his Inner Circle, and with that came a hefty salary. When Lucien had wondered what it was that Rhys was even paying him for, Feyre had shrugged and said, "Good counsel, watching his back... making him laugh? You never can tell with Rhys sometimes."